Taiga Buff 2

Shizuko raises or lowers herself depending upon the height difference. She looks into Taiga's eyes for a moment. She places her hands on Taiga's shoulders gently.

"Taiga, would you like to join our family? Will you take me as your mother, Salvas as your father, and Kit as your brother? This is your choice and I order you to tell me which option you would like. Do not let your duty make this decision for you... please... I want to know what you want."
(Shizuko Megumi)


Salvas Voss says, "I will be in the square."
Salvas Voss has entered Shizuko's Home.

A family.

He remembered his family, still. His real one. As Shizuko looks into his eyes, she can see that pain in them - the anguish that one's heart feels when it losses grip on everything it's known. His father had trained him as a servant. Ensured that he'd never even think of making his own choices without first deferring to him.

But Shizuko... Salvas. The family that was offered to him now? They had accepted him in a way that his father never did. They asked him what he wanted. They didn't force him to follow any kind of code, or subjugate him to insane training just because he was a magi. For the first time in his life now, the gears were starting to whir together in his head.

Maybe... this is what a family was supposed to be like?

His heart feels like it's been gutted open the moment that thought crosses his mind. Tears well up in his eyes. His lip quivers, struggling to form words. What did he want? ...Hedidn't know. It had never been a question on his mind until now. His thoughts. His actions. They were all aimless without a pillar to hold onto. A pillar... like Shizuko. There was no way he could abandon that. It was the last thing keeping him together.

"...Of course." He struggles out. "If... you would. I promised... to protect you with my life, Shizuko. So long as I am not a burden... I'd be happy to be apart of your family." He hangs his head in a bow. "Thank you... Shizuko." He can't think of what else to say. He was too young to possibly express the gratitude he felt in his heart from being accepted. The only way he knew how was to simply follow orders. Until the very end, now.
(Taiga)